Rosemount Estate has it all bottled up
What is Rosemount's profile in Australia?
We are a respected brand right throughout the country and recent research backs this. People know and like the style of our wines, which are about soft, bright fruit. We are certainly a top 10 brand in terms of total sales but some of our varieties are best sellers. For example, our Chardonnay is the number one in Australia. But with our new packaging we are looking to reignite some of the passion that people had for the brand in the mid-1990s.
What has been the secret of Rosemount's success in what is a fiercely competitive market?
Rosemount has got a history of innovation and development. That is a platform from which people can appreciate us and that means people will look carefully at our new innovations. It is pretty difficult for new brands to come into the market now. You have to provide a distinctive point of difference. We have had 30 years of platform-building and from that we have been able to add to it.
You built up a huge amount of experience in Europe during your early years as a winemaker. How crucial is that to a winemaker's education?
It is something that was done quite a lot at the time. Once you leave college you have all the theory but you need to see traditional and modern technologies in practice. You need to learn how to manage fruit and get what you want from the fruit. But then again, you never stop learning.
Would a young Australian winemaker do the same thing today?
All the young winemakers travel abroad for a while to expand their education. You have to learn about the fruit and about yeast. By the same token we have young German, Austrian and French winemakers coming over to Australian vineyards for the same reason.
How do you account for the UK's huge thirst for Australian wines over the last 20 years?
When Australian wine was introduced the packaging was very easily understandable, mainly through identifying grape varietals on the label. Plus the quality was very good and it was sold at easily affordable prices. Rosemount was at the forefront of these innovations in the early 1980s. Australia started producing wines that surprised people, they were surprised at how bright and fresh they were. Plus we were one of the first countries to develop brands - and once consumers found a brand they liked, they stuck with it.
Is there a wine-producing country out there that you believe will be the next big thing?
It's not so much that there will be a single country. I think it will more be about the wines themselves, there will be some great wines and brands emerging from all over the world in the coming years.
Which wine you have made has made you most proud?
The development of wines such as Balmoral has made me proud. But to be honest I think the biggest achievement has been keeping the Diamond range at its high level of quality over the years. Doing that has been a real challenge. As has the pressure of always ensuring you take advantage of good seasons. There is real pressure on you to make good wines when you have a good vintage! In tough years you have to make sure you have your whole team working with you. But then it's an agricultural business, you have to work with the vagaries of nature.
It's my round, what are you drinking?
A good ale, perhaps a London Pride. Followed by a nice, rich, full-bodied red wine and a steak!
CV:
1984 - Completes degree in the study of wine at Roseworthy College, South Australia. Also works for McWilliams Wines and Tisdall Wines for three vintages
1985 - Heads abroad, working for a vintage in the Napa Valley in California and then onto France for a vintage in Bordeaux. From there he travelled through all the major wine regions of France and Italy
1986 - Joins Rosemount Estate. Goes to China to provide technical assistance in the development of the Handong Winery in North Eastern China
1987 - Visits France again, and the winemaking regions of Spain
1988 - Travels to the East Coast wine regions of the US
2002 - Awarded the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for his 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot blend from McLaren Vale
Present - based in McLaren Vale and manages all aspects of production of Rosemount Estate's wine coming in from South Australian vineyards
